Portable head rest



Jan. 16, 1962 c. T. KlNsMAN 3,017,222

PORTABLE HEAD REST Filed Feb. 1, 1961 United Sete:

3,017,222vr Y PORTABLE HEAD REST Calvin T. Kinsman,1 South Miami, Fla.(700 Sunset Blvd., New Port Richey, Fla.)

Filed Feb. 1, 1961, Ser, No; 86,448 3 Claims. (Cl. 297-2397) No. 847,350for Portable Head Rests, iiledOctob'er 19,'-

1959, which has matured in Patent No. 2,996,333'dated August 15, 1961,particularly inthat: the newstructure is so constructed that itwill'not'be aptV to creepl upwardlyv nor accidently move sidewise butywill positively move' with movements of the torso ofy an occupant ofl avehicle seat who isusing the headl rest. That is, asthero'ccupants* bodymay move along a vehicle seat, the head rest willr follow themovements'of the body andV the body'will not slide olf the head rest.

Since one of the important objects of my prior invention, referred toabove, was to provide a headrestconstructed of inexpensive material,readily fashioned', and light in weight,-an improvement thereover is theprovision of a head rest wherein there is a saving in material oyer thatemployed in the head rests of ry prior" invention, without the sacrificeof the novelfeatures ofthe prior invention. With this saving, andemployingl the' same" materials as heretofore, the costl ofmanufactureis lowered and the weight of the iinished head rest is reduced.

Additionallyfan important objectV ofthe presentl invention is to providea head rest whichvk does not include the slight bulge, extending fromthe front of one of the'` forms of my prior invention. While, in manycases, this bulge Was not objectionable, ina few cases it might beregarded as such. Y

Still another important object of the invention is to provide anadjustable bridge means between front and back portions of the headrest, which bridge means will not move forwardly beyond the frontface ofthe front portion of the head rest.

Still another important object is to provide a portable head rest whichmaybe shipped, stored and marketed as a attenedZ-out article or may beshipped, stored and especially marketed as a compactly folded article,whereby the compactly folded article is of much less size than is thesame article flattened out.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the followingdetailed description of the invention, takenvin connectionwith the accompanying drawing, forming a portion of thedis'- closure, and in which drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the portablfe"head rest of thisinvention as in use.

FIGURE 2 is a knocked-down or'collapsed view of the head rest of FIGUREl.

FIGURE 3 is a virtual longitudinal section through-the head rest ofFIGURES l and' 21 in use.

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal transverse sectional view substantially on theline 4-4 of FIGURE 3. Y

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view through the folded-up head rest, thesection being on substantially th'e longitudinal medial line of the headrest.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown apreferred embodiment o'f the invention and wherein similar referencecharacters designate corre# spending parts throughout the several views,the letter longitudinal medial line.

l' 3,017,222 if@ Patented Jan. 1e, 1962 2. designates theeinbodiment'o'f 'the invention;-Bl,-thebaclof a seat; C, an occupantofthe'seat; andD, garment Worin by the occupant.

TheV portable seatbaclij A preferably compris'esa-s'ingle sheeto fself-sustaining, readily stamped or' die cutmaterialV which may bescored` andb'ent ori folded. Suchl material maybe iibr'ous'material a'slcardboard, the laminatedcorru'gated paperboard commonly known as jute orjute boardVand similar selfasusta-inin'g stiffened fibrousl materials.By` way of example, Il have discovered; that' a substantiallyrectangular sheet o'fjute'boa'rd, substantially twenty-eight-incheslong-,- substantially/'eight' inches wide,V about one-eighthinchvthick-,and weighing s'ubstan# tially live and one-half ounces is apractical sizel and weight. This size sheet is substantially seven" andlonehalf inches shorter than a' practical embodiment of the sheet ofthehead rest Avof my disclosure in alz'aplicationy Seriali'No.y 843,350,referredtov above',- since there' is no Wasta'ge' of materialin" thepresent form'of'the inventionl in providing" a tongue' portionwhichVforms bridge means in the present` form, as will' be more fullydescribed-later.

The' sheet 10' preferably has substantially par'allelsidev edges 11 andopposite end edges 12 and 13 anda plurality of substantially paralleltongue-receivingtransverse slots, as-theslets 14; I5 andy 16,spaced'inwar'dly from the sidev edge 12,1 extendingtoward'thezoppo'sit'e end edge 131y The s'lot's^ are narrow, such' asone-eighthinch'wide' and very slightly more' than' two'a'nd#one=quarte"rinches long, leaving substantially tWOLandLthree-quarter inches ofmaterial' outwardly of the preferably square-cut end' edges of theslots. While three slots are' shown, by way of exan'iplej,r there'may betwo, four or more slots, insteadofth'ree.

Spaced from the slots lit-16: and end edge 13 are spaced-apart,transversely-extending score or fold lines' 17 and 18. Preferably, theseextend, in arcuate curves, toward each other so'that they are spaced'apart their least distance at substantially the longitudinal medial=line' of the sheet. For example, at the edges 1'1 the two lines 17and1`8 may be substantially oneand=onequarter inches inches apart andisubstantially one-eighthv inch at the For example, the line at theedgesr- 11, may be about nine inches from' the' end edge 12' and about'eighteen-and-onehalf inches from the endedge 13. The edge 12r and' line17 define the longitudinal limitsk of rear portion 19 of the' set-uphead restA and the line 18 and end edge 13 define the longitudinal'limits of the front portion 2t) of the set-upj head rest, which front'portionJ comprises a lowerr'nost or backcontacting part 2.0a andi an'upper or head-contacting part2llb.

Extending' longitudinally. ofthe body-contacting part 20a of the frontportion' 20' are a pair. of substantially parallel cuts 21' and, joiningthem, preferably adjacent the edge 13, is a transverse cut 22. Theshortest dis= tance apa'rt of' the' cuts 21' is very slightly less than'the length of any` one of the slots 142-16, since the tongue Z3 providedby the material' between'y the lines'`r 21, in-A wardly of the line 22and'y inwardly of a hingev line Z4 which, when the tongue 231s foldedaway from the front portion 20, as' will bei described, is very slightlynar# rower than any.' one of these slots but wide enough so that thereywill be a snug' friction hold oftheY tongue in the slots. 0f course,the length of the tongue 23 may vary, but I prefer toV provide one aboutnine inches' long which will accommodateTY the` headfrest A toy seatbacks of various thicknesses. Itiis important that there be adequatematerial of the fronti'portion 20r between adjacent lines 11 and'21y and12 and 2'1. For example, the shortest distance betweenr these associatedlines should i be' substantially three andthree=eighth inches while thetongue 23 is substantially two and one-quarter inches wide.

In order to assist in folding up the head rest A into a compact article,much shorter than the flattened out article, I provide a fold or scoreline 28 preferably extending across the part 20a, for example, insubstantially the location shown in FIG. 2 so that the part below thefold or score line 28 may be folded toward the line 18, as may beappreciated in FIG. 5. The tongue 23 may also be provided with a fold orscore line 29 so that, when the tongue is folded toward the line 18,that portion of the tongue below the line 29 of FIG. 2 may also befolded, as is believed clear in FIG. 5. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, acompact package is provided.

The juncture of the edges 11 and 12 with the edge 13 may be rounded', ifdesired and the edge 12 slightly curved.

The head rest A is preferably handled in its flattenedout or collapsedshape which permits stacking without any lost space.

In setting up the head rest A, the sheet 10 is folded along the scorelines 17 and 18 to provide a somewhat inverted V-shape, the tongue 23then bent on the scored fold line 24 and inserted in the slot 14. Thehead' rest is then mounted upon the top surface 30 of the back B withthe portion 20 facing forwardly and the lower part of the back portion19 facing rearwardly. The operation may now pinch the portions 19 and 20toward each other at the apex at the upper end of the head rest, by theuse of the lingers of one hand, so that the front and rear portions willcontact the front face 31 and back face 32 respectively of the seat backB and, with his other hand, bend up at 25 that portion of the tongue 23protruding outwardly of the slot 14 and fold the protruding portion ofthe tongue at 26 so that the free end portion 27 may be inserted throughthe slot 15 or 16 (in the example shown in FIG. 1, the free end portion27 is inserted through the slot 16, but, if the portion of the tongue 23contacting the top surface of a seat back is thinner than that shown inFIG. l, the free end may be inserted through the slot 15). Taken withthe snug lit of the tongue with the walls of the slots and the folds 25and 26 and protruding free end portion 27 of the tongue, the tongue issecurely held against accidental separation from the back portion 19.

Of course, without invention, I may provide a plurality of transverselyscore or fold lines 29a, similar to the line 29 at the lower endlportion of the tongue 23 for assisting in folding the free end portionof the tongue while being manipulated into the slots, such as the slots14, 15 or 16.

Preferably, the occupant C, when sitting into the seat places the hand40 (or even the other hand) upon the head rest A, as shown in FIG. l, atthe part thereof between the two fold lines 17 and 18 and pressesslightly downwardly in the event the portion of the tongue 23, whichprovides, in effect, a bridge means between the rear and front portions19 and 20, accidently moves upwardly. The occupant may then lean againstthe front portion of the head rest and release the hand 40 from the headrest. The elongate opening or slot 28 which is provided by the walls ofthe cuts 21 and Z2 and fold lines 24 is adapted to receive, as may beappreciated in FIGS. 3 and 4, a portion 45 of the garment D of theoccupant C, a part of which portion 4S may or may not Contact thegenerally smooth surface of the front face of the seat back, lls theslot 28 and thus tends to prevent undesired independent movements of thehead rest A over the seat back but which head rest may move withmovements of the occupants body, whereby the occupant will not nd isnecessary to readjust the head rest with relation to the occupants body.Head rests without this feature sometimes tend to freeze to the seatback and, if the user atempts to move to the right d or left, theoccupants body tends to slide off the back rest and then to be whipped,by breezes, from the seat back.

If desired, a coating of conventional water-repellent composition may beapplied to the outer face of the front portion 20.

Various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be madeto the form of the improved invention Without departing from the spiritof the invention or scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A portable head rest of self-sustaining sheet material for a seatback having a front face, a rear face and a top edge, said portable headrest including a back portion for contacting a portion of said rearface, a front portion having a back-contacting part for contacting saidseat back and a portion of the back of a garment worn by an occupant ofsuch seat back and leaning against said portable head rest, said frontportion also having a head-contacting part merging into saidback-contacting part and said back-contacting part being provided withan elongate longitudinally extending opening extending from the frontface to the rear face of said back-contacting part; and manuallyfoldable bridge means connecting said front portion, intermediate theheight thereof, and said rear portion, with a portion of said bridgemeans forming substantially a right angle with said head'- contactingportion, said opening being of an area suflicient to accommodate a partof said back portion of said garment to project into said opening,whereby sidewise movements of the torso of the occupant will tend tocause said part of said garment to move sidewise with said torso andcause said head rest to move therewith.

2. A portable head rest of self-sustaining sheet material for a seatback having a front face,` a rear face and a top edge, said portablehead rest including a back portion for contacting a portion of said rearface, a front portion longer than said back portion and having abackcontacting part for contacting said seat back and a portion of theback of a garment worn by an occupant of such seat back and leaningagainst said portable head rest, said front portion also having ahead-contacting part merging into said back-contacting part and saidbackcontacting part being provided with an elongate longitudinallyextending slot extending from the front face to the rear face of saidback-contacting part; and manually foldable bridge means connecting saidfront portion, at the base of said slot, and said rear portion closelyadjacent the lower end of said rear portion, with a portion of saidbridge means and forming substantially a right angle with saidhead-contacting portion, said slot being of an area suicient toaccommodate a part of said back portion of said garment to project intoysaid opening, whereby sidewise movements of the torso of the occupantwill tend to cause said part of said garment to move -sidewise with saidtorso and cause said head rest to move therewith.

3. A portable head rest of self-sustaining sheet material for a seatback having a front face, a rear face and a top edge, said portable headrest including a rear portion for contacting a portion of said rearface, a front portion having a back-contacting part for contacting saidseat back and a portion of the back of a garment worn by an occupant ofsuch seat back and leaning against said portable head rest, said frontportion also having a head-contacting part merging into saidback-contacting part and said back contacting part being provided withan elongate longitudinally-sextending opening extending along thelongitudinal axis of said back-contacting part and extending from thefront face to the rear face of said back-contacting part; and manuallyfoldable bridge means connecting said front portion, at a fold line atthe base of said slot, and said rear portion, with a portion of saidbridge means forming substantially a right angle with saidhead-contacting portion, said opening being of an area suicient toaccommodate a part of said back portion of said garment to project intosaid opening, whereby sidewise movements of the torso of the occupantwill cause said part of said garment to move side- Wise with said torsoand cause said head rest to move therewith.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS BarnesDec.t11, 1883 Abbott Oct. 7, 1952 Pinkerton et al. Aug. 6, 1957Bloomquist May 5, 1959

